A Kiwi Left Turn

Updated Nov. 29, 1999 12:01 a.m. ET

M ost accounts of New Zealand's election last Saturday attribute Labor's win to the fact that voters were tired after nine years of National Party rule and wanted a change. Certainly that is part of the equation. But it must be noted that the New Zealand electorate rejected more than the Nationals this weekend. They were also giving the thumbs down to a reform process that began some 15 years ago under Labor Prime Minister David Lange. Or so it seems.

Current Labor Party leader Helen Clark made no secret of the fact that...